Cigar-bunch manipulator



Sept. 29, 1925.

w. B. BRONANDER CIGAR BUNCH MANIPULATOR Patented Sept. 29, 1925. I I I p p UNITED STATES PATENT ounce.

WILHELM B. BRONANDER, or BROOKLYN, NEw YORK, AssIGNoR T INTERNATIONAL CIGAR, MACHINEBY'COMPANY, A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY.

CIGAR-BUNCH MANIPULATOR. Application flledlovembcr 1 0, 1923. Serial No. 674,046. 1

T 0 all whom. it mag/concern: These various parts may be widely varied, Be it known that I, WVILHELM' B. BRONAN- in construction within the scope of the DER, 'a citizen of the United States, residing claims, for the particular structure selected at Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of to illustrate the invention is but one of many 5 New York, have invented anew and useful' possible concrete embodiments of the same. 6 Improvement in Cigar-Bunch Manipulators, The invention therefore is not to be re of which thefollowing is a specification. stricted to the precise details ofthe structure This invention relates to an improvement shown and described.

in cigarbunchmanipulators of the rotating Referring to the drawings, 5 indicates a drumtype. rotating manipulating drum of a type well 66 ,Heretofore, manipulators oithis type have known in the art and therefore needing no included a concave member substantially detailed description. 1 While this drum may concentric with the perimeter of the rotathave a cylindrical, or a conical operating ing drumand'pfesenting an inflexible opersurface at its perimeter, dependent upon the ating surface though the member as a whole contour, of the cigar bunch to be manipu- 70 has been yieldingly mounted. The main oblated; as shown, the perimeter of the drum ject of the present invention is the producis concaved at 6 to accommodate the partion of a device having a flexible manipulatticular form ofcigar bunch shown in Fig.3. ing membercoacting with the rotating drum Coacting with the drum 5 is .a flexible in order to act upon the rotatingcigar bunch manipulating member 7 which also may be 7 in a more gentle :nianner 'andiefi'ect a more cylindrical or conical or transversely coni even distribution of the filler within the caved, as the case may be, andalso'is or may binder qwith this and other objects not. be constructed of thin sheet metal. This specificallymention'ed in View, the invention flexible member is bent around a portion consists in certain combinations and conof the perimeter of the drum 5, an'd its'ends structions which will be.h ereinafter fully. are secured to a suitable support. The middescribed and then specifically. set forth in section of, this flexible memberfliesnearerto" the claims, hereunto appended. the perimeter of the drum than its ends. In the accompanying drawi gs, which Each of its ends is doubled back at 8 and I forn apart of this specification and in' provided-with a slot 9, and ascrew 10 passes whichlike characters of reference indicate through ,this. slotv and is threaded into a the' same'or like parts, Fig. 1 is a side elevasupport 11, the head of the screw clamping tion,'partly" in section, of a manipulator conthe end of the flexible member to the supstructedf in accordance with the invention; port. As clearlyshown in Fig.1,the'sug 35 Fig. 2 is a detail view ofa part ofthe device port 11 is curved around a portion of t e .90 shown in Fig, 1, showing themanner of perimeter ofthe'drum tiand itis provided, mounting the flexible manipulating mem-, with a slotted fork 12, the tines of..,which I berjFigBisa sectional viewtaken on the lie on either side or a boss 13 formed on i line 3-3 in Fig.1; and Fig.4 is a perspeca bracket lfle which supports the shaft15 40 tive view of. the flexible manipulating 0f the drum 5 beforereferred to. Mounted member. i Y in the boss-Bis a pin 16 extending through, a In carrying the invention into effect, there thezslots 'of the fork Hand held imposition is' provideda rotating drumand a flexible by means of a' .set.screw 1 7 In each t ne; manipulating member spaced from the perof the fork 12 is threaded-,an .,adjusting screw... 4 imeterof said drum,'the spacing being 'sufii- 18 bearing against the pin 16. The purpose cient to accommodate a cigar bunch so that of the structure just described is to provide it will be'rolled between the drum and memmeans whereby the support may be adjusted her under entle pressure, and a support toward and away from the drum in accordfor the flexlble member. In the best 0011- ance with the diameter of the bunches to 50' structions, the drum and flexible member be manipulated.

will be somewhat concaved transversely to This structure, however, does not holdthe manipulate the bunch ends preparatory to support 11 rigidly 1n ad usted positlon,- shaping them permanently in the mecha-. wh ch would be undesirable since a slight nism, not shown, to which the bunch is tiltlng actlon of the support is necessary to v 56 transferred after it has been manipulated. obtain the best results. For the purpose is, or may be, of

dicated diagrammatically at 22 in F1g. 1.

forming mechanism encloses rection of bunch travel. pusher 24 form a part of sure slightly. When the of permitting this slight tilting action, the support 11 bears against two springs 19, one on either side of the fork 12. These springs are housed in bosses 20 formed on the bracket 14 before referred to, and their tension is regulated by means of adjusting screws 21 of well known character and operation.

The device is used in connection with a suitable bunch forming mechanismwhich the Chianti belt type in- This bunch filler in a' binder and delivers it to a table 23, across which it is moved by means of a p'usher 24, to the entrance of the passage between the drum 5' and-flexible manipulating member ,7, the bunch in several positions being indicated in Fig. 1 by the reference letter B, the arrows showing the di- The table 23 and the bunchjformmg mechanism and lie outside the scope of the present invention; and since they are well known in the art, a detailed description of the same is omitted in the interest of brevity and clearness.

The distance between the perimeter. of the I drum 5 and the leading end of the flexible member 7 at the entrance of the passage,

before referred to, is somewhat less than the diameter of the cigar bunch; and when a bunch is pushed into the entrance of the passage, the spring 19 nearest said entrance yields a little, and the the pin 16. The spring 19 exerts a gentle pressure on the bunch radially with re spect to the drum 5. As the bunch is rolled along through the passage, the flexible member 7 yields independently of the. yieldingof the spring 19 and becomes deformed or sprung out 0 its normal shape, thereby changing the direction of the applied pres: bunch reaches a point over the fork 12, the support comes back to its normal position and as the bunch moves farther along it is tilted slightly in the ogposite direction, but the flexible memher exerts its independent pressure throughout the travel of the bunch through the passage. When the bunch reaches the upperend of the support and flexible member, it comes in contact with a yielding finger 25 of a bunch carrier, the purpose of which is to transport the manipulated support lltilts on bunch to a shaping mechanism, not shown. The action of the rotating drum in rolling the bunch forward causes it to roll under the finger 25 into the bunch position shown at the right .and top of Fig. l, which is the position it occupies whilebeing transported. The bunch carrier is operated by a rocking movement of a shaft '26 upon which itfl/is mounted. This transporting mechanism is well known in theart and lies outside the present invention; a detailed description thereof'is therefore omitted in the interest of brevity.

What is claimed is: j I

1. A cigar bunch manipulatorcomprising a' rotating drum, a flexible manipulating member coacting therewith, and a support for said member. I

2. A cigar bunch manipulator; comprising a rotating drum, a flexible manipulating member coacting therewith, and a support for said member, said drum having an-operating'surface shaped in accordance with the contour of the bunch to be manipulated.

3, A cigar bunch manipulator comprising a rotating drum, a flexible manipulating member coacting therewith, and a support for said member, said member having an operating surface sha ed in accordance withi the contourofthe" unoh to be manipulate 4. A cigar bunch manipulator comprising a rotating drum a flexible manipulating member coacting therewith, and a support for said member, said drum and said member having correspondingly concaved operating surfaces.

5. A cigar bunch'manipulator comprising a rotating drum, a flexible manipulating member coacting therewith,iand a support for said member engaging its ends only.

6. A cigar bunch manipulator comprising a rotating drum, a flexible manipulating member coacting therewith, and a support for said member, said member being-constructed of sheet metal:

7. A cigar bunch manipulator comprising a rotating drum, a flexible manipulating. 

